March is Nutrition Month
By Tara Stark
Do you know where that burger came from? The meat? The bun? The pickle? Unless you are polishing off a Hundred Mile burger from the Hume Hotel in Nelson, chances are you would be hard pressed to come up with an answer. March is nutrition month and this year’s theme is “Celebrating Food from Field to Table”. This fantastic theme encourages us to contemplate such questions and explore our personal relationship with where our food comes from.
Celebrating food from field to table can be difficult in a global food market. Which field was your food grown in, where, with what inputs and by whom? The global food system allows us to enjoy a wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables year round, making nutrition powerhouses like avocadoes, olive oil and citrus fruits regular features on Canadian winter tables. But a global food system can leave us wondering about the origin of our food.
As consumers of food, we make choices every day that affect our health, the health of the environment, the health of the local economy and potentially the health and welfare of farm workers and food processors around the world.
So how do you figure out what you are eating, how it was grown and where it has come from? It’s complicated but here are a few ideas to help you take the guess work out of it.
Find out what is grown and produced locally and make a commitment to purchase those foods when in season. The Kootenays have a rich history of market gardening and fruit production. Local meat and farm eggs are also available. Plan to visit local markets and can, dry and freeze foods. Keep your eyes on local classified ads for locally grown and produced foods. When you buy food this way you can connect directly with the farmer and ask about their practices.
Look a little further. Creston farmers have grains and legumes such as oats, wheat, and lentils for sale and an abattoir where much of our local meat is processed. Grand Forks has a dairy. The Okanagan has different varieties of fruits that we don’t see in abundance here.
Think before you purchase your bread and grain products, your tofu and your dips and sauces. While the ingredients may still come from afar, many of these products are made here by local artisans. This is an opportunity to support local food producers who are our neighbours and whose earnings stay in our communities.
Get your hands in the dirt and learn to grow some of your own food. Need support? Take a course, connect with a friend or a neighbour, or join a community garden or a community supported farm. Castlegar and Rossland both have thriving community gardens where you can learn from others and share the work load. If you are not sure how to start, here are a few good websites to get you connected.
Kootenay Local Agriculture Society http://www.klasociety.org
Rossland REAL Food http://www.rosslandfood.com
Kootenay Food Strategy Society http://kootenayfood.ca
Comments